I was trying to think of something I wanted to add, and you said it perfectly here. "Validation has been weaponized."

I'm never going to argue with someone who just wants/needs validation that it's not okay for them to feel how they feel. It seems to me that people who need a lot of validation were often told, either growing up or in a significant relationship, that their feelings were wrong and/or didn't matter. So they feel ashamed when they feel anything but happy, and they need to know it's okay to feel however they feel - even when something makes them mad or any negative emotion, especially.

Personally, I feel it's an issue in terms of growth and recovery if a person only ever wants validation and never wants to learn how to (a) self-validate and accept their own emotions without needing others' approval and (b) address the underlying issues and responses that make them need validation. It irks me to no end giving endless validation and biting my tongue when someone isn't really working on recovery.

But, and this is the big but, that's how I feel about it, and that's okay, but my feelings about it don't matter. And that's the point. It's totally okay for me to feel that way about validation, and not to force "growth and recovery" on anyone else. If someone only wants validation and that's all they want to get, that's A-okay. I can feel how I feel about that and still only provide validation. I'm not wrong for feeling how I feel, and they aren't wrong for needing what they need.

And, furthermore, it's not my place to force upon anyone, online or IRL, what I think they should do to feel better.

So, that's all to say, if someone says they just need validation, then that's what I will do. I feel like people hide behind validation and weaponize it, as Embracingtruth said, but it's not my place nor does it benefit anyone for me to challenge that unless the person has actually asked to be challenged.

We can feel however we want to feel about "validation only" and still only give validation.